Let's see your exonumia!

1971 Longines Symphonette
1898 San Juan Hill
40mm Bronze Medal





I would have a silver version by now but have yet to find one with a well defined face of TR on the obverse. They are often mushy and I want a nice one.



Teddy Roosevelt poses center without a hat with his "Rough Riders" after the victory at San Juan Hill.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

1971 - 1975
L'Amour Et Psyche
Treasures of the Louvre
Franklin Mint




mintage 7792
45mm 1.25 oz. .925

The story of Cupid and Psyche concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ("Soul" or "Breath of Life") and Cupid, and their ultimate union in marriage.

The fame of Psyche's beauty threatens to eclipse that of Venus herself, and the love goddess sends Cupid to work her revenge. Cupid, however, becomes enamored of Psyche, and arranges for her to be taken to his palace. He visits her by night, warning her not to try to look upon him.

Psyche's envious sisters convince her that her lover must be a hideous monster, and she finally introduces a lamp into their chamber to see him. Startled by his beauty, she drips hot oil from the lamp and wakes him.

He abandons her. She wanders the earth looking for him, and finally submits to the service of Venus, who tortures her. The goddess then sends Psyche on a series of quests. Each time she despairs, and each time she is given divine aid.

On her final task, she is to retrieve a dose of Proserpina's beauty from the underworld. She succeeds, but on the way back can't resist opening the box in the hope of benefitting from it herself, whereupon she falls into a torpid sleep.

Cupid finds her in this state, and revives her by returning the sleep to the box. Cupid grants her immortality so the couple can be wed as equals.


Both works of Art at the Louvre


Cupid and Psyche 1798
François Gérard
Oil on canvas
Mythological painting



Cupid and Psyche Marble Sculpture
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss 1777
by Antonio Canova

 

I researched many token issues and contributed my findings to Russ for quite a few years. I got to know him pretty well and found him to be gracious and appreciative to his contributors.

A gentleman through and through. The token world lost a wonderful man when he passed.

Bruce

 

1973 Saint Joseph Carpenter Treasures Of The Louvre Series Franklin Mint





mintage 7792
45mm 1.25 oz. .925

Georges de La Tour Painting
St. Joseph The Carpenter
Louvre Museum, Paris

 

1976 Two Centuries of
Liberty Peace Progress
Longines Symphonette Sterling 44mm .925 Silver Medal






"Two Centuries of Liberty Peace Progress" - July 4th, Bicentennial - Solid Sterling Silver Art Round

This Collectors Art Round is Sterling Silver With Two Small Diamonds Inset. It Was Struck By Wittnauer Precious Metals Guild As A Part Of A Limited Edition Set For The Longines Symphonette Society. It Is A Very High Relief Strike, With An Antique Finish & Very Attractive.

The Edge Is Stamped “Sterling" "Longines Symphonette"

It Measures Approx 44mm Across (It is larger than a silver dollar, which is 38mm)
It Weighs 1.6 Ounces (or 1.5 Troy Ounces)
Precious Metal Is Solid Sterling Silver

There are numerous variations for this medal. Different initials in different places, diamond chips in slightly different mount area designs, rays on Liberty seem to differ.

Although unique in size, the rest of the set being 40mm, this one is considerably larger, and having diamond chips, it is considered part of the Great American Triumphs set by Longines Symphonette, Whittnauer Mint.

Some varieties and a scarce one in bronze.

 

Don't take the wooden nickel!

 

My mother and her mother attended the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition and saved one of these items:


Chicago Exposition - Wooden Nickel Indian
Wood, 35 mm, 2.18 gm
Obverse: Indian facing
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS / 1833 1933 / WOODEN NICKEL
Reverse: Century of Progress Logo
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS / 1833 1933 / CHICAGO

 

Eve
1973 SFCS Sterling Medal





This particular medal sculpted by Evangelos Frudakis is a really tough one to find.
It is #44, the first I have seen sold "loose" outside of the 5th issue of ten medals #41 through #50 from the 50 medal SCFC series ~ Societe Commemorative de Femmes Celebres ~ minted by the Franklin Mint.

There are many interpretations and beliefs about Adam and Eve.
For the sake of avoiding argument, I'll just give a couple things I have found or have been taught.

Roughly 150 generations have passed since Eve was created.
You won't find it on Ancestry dot calm but there is a genealogy recorded for those old days. LOL
So I'll just call her my Great Grandmother.
Before Noah's flood, some people supposedly lived to be hundreds of years old. Believe what you will.
At any rate ... It is a beautiful obverse. Better than my pictures!

Adam, Eve, and the Serpent Lilith at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

 

1972 Helen of Troy - The Elopement SCFC





Helen of Troy - The Elopement
"The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships"

Helen of Troy was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was the sister of Clytemnestra and Castor and Polydeuces.
In the form of a swan, Zeus, the king of gods was chased by an eagle, and sought refuge with Leda. The swan gained her affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an egg, from which Helen emerged along with her siblings.

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world.

She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta, but eloped with Prince Paris of Troy, resulting in the Trojan War. The Achaeans set out to reclaim her when "the fleet of a thousand ships" launched into battle to bring her back to Sparta.
It was during the Trojan War that Achilles was killed by Paris with an arrow that pierced his heel, his one vulnerable point.
In the Odyssey, Homer says that Helen of Troy also guesses the plot of the Trojan Horse and tries to trick and uncover the Greek soldiers inside the horse by imitating the voices of their wives, and Anticlus attempts to answer from inside, but Odysseus shuts his mouth with his hand.

"Beware of Greeks bearing Gifts"
The wooden horse had soldiers inside and the Trojans took it inside the walls of Troy as a gift to Athena. At night the soldiers came out and opened the gates of the city, the Greek armies entered and they defeated Troy and rescued Helen.

Helen returned to Sparta and lived for a time with Menelaus, where she was encountered by Telemachus in Book 4 of The Odyssey. As depicted in that account, she and Menelaus were completely reconciled and had a harmonious married life—he holding no grudge at her having run away with a lover and she feeling no restraint in telling anecdotes of her life inside besieged Troy.

According to another version, used by Euripides in his play Orestes, Helen had long ago left the mortal world by then, having been taken up to Mount Olympus almost immediately after Menelaus' return. A curious fate is recounted by Pausanias the geographer, which has Helen share the afterlife with Achilles in Hedes.

 

1983 Congressional POW / MIA Medal

 

I really like your "Medal?" My father and brother served in Southeast Asia and thank God they got home although tarnished. My father drove into a tractor trailer. My brother is on his 3rd wife. My sister married a soldier that was an artillery officer and his tour of duty was as a forward observer. Her marriage didn't last. A dear friend of my wife and I was an infantry officer. He was killed getting his men to safety. I was lucky. While serving as a runner, my C.O. found out that I could type. I served in the Courts and Boards Section of the Staff Judge Advocates Office. I was also exempt due to the Sullivant Act. Your coin was made many years before I started collecting. My father was a coin collector for many years and I was lucky enough to get half of his collection. My brother got the other half. I started collecting and my brother put his half in a jar and stuck it in storage.
Again, Thanks for showing a coin/medal that I will be looking out to put it in my collection, along with my fathers medals and ribbons for 30 years of service having served in 3 wars. He was a great father. I dearly miss him.
I have tried to get information of his service but all I get is that my request is being processed.

 

Z yours looks like gold!

Mine is bronze, Jim Dale
You can find one like mine rather easy on the wallet here.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...1313&_nkw=1983+Vietnam+MIA+POW+Medal&_sacat=0

1983 Vietnam MIA POW Medal



The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia.
Following the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, 591 American prisoners of war (POWs) were returned during Operation Homecoming. The U.S. listed about 2,500 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action but only 1,200 Americans were reported killed in action and body not recovered.
Many of these were Airmen who were shot down over North Vietnam or Laos.
Investigations of these incidents have involved determining whether the men involved survived being shot down.
If they did not survive, then the U.S. government considered efforts to recover its soldiers' remains. POW/MIA activists played a role in pushing the U.S. government to improve its efforts in resolving the fates of the missing soldiers.
Considerable speculation and investigation has contributed to a hypothesis that a significant number of missing U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam Conflict were captured as prisoners of war by Communist forces and kept as live prisoners after U.S. involvement in the war concluded in 1973.
A vocal group of POW/MIA activists maintains that there has been a concerted conspiracy by the Vietnamese and American governments since then to hide the existence of these prisoners. The U.S. government has steadfastly denied that prisoners were left behind or that any effort has been made to cover up their existence.
The fate of those missing in action has always been one of the most troubling and unsettling consequences of any war. In this case, the issue has been a highly emotional one to those involved, and is often considered the last depressing, divisive aftereffect of the Vietnam War for the United States.

 

1980 Ronald Reagan
History of The United States Bronze Medals
Error and Correct



This one has me confused as the Franklin Mint issued 200 medals to complete this set during the years 1966 through 1977.

However, these medals are dated 1980 with a few relevant events on the reverse for the year.
Perhaps The Franklin Mint has continued on with the extensive set.

The set itself doesn't really interest me all that much. I am sure there are a few issues I'd be glad to own depending on the artwork and subject but I bought this pair for the error.

As you can see, One has incorrect spelling as NOVEMER and the other it has been corrected with NOVEMBER.
I have no idea how many times there were errors for this set but I have collected a small number of significant interesting error medals like this one.

I only wish this set was silver instead of bronze but glad to have found it.

Maybe there were silver ones issued too? I'll have to keep an eye out.

The reverse of the "error" medal has a correct period after NOV where the correct version does not. It should have one since all the other months have abbreviation periods.

 

1900's George Washington American Fabious Medal





This token was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the early 20th century. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.

Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and political tokens.

Crude attempts to hole this medal long ago were unsuccessful. It is damaged and value is minimal.
I obviously need an upgrade.

Very similar medals can be found in a larger diameter in bronze and aluminum but the spelling of Fabious can also be found as Fabius on the larger.

 

1789 George Washington
“Time Increases His Fame” Medal
(catalog Baker-A91)
Medallic Art Company 33 mm Bronze minted in 1950





I am not sure but I'd bet there was a much earlier original version long before this was struck.

 

...

 

For Mother's Day

1830 Miraculous Medal
and Sterling Silver Chain



An unusual border on the front. It is cut in such a way to sparkle in the light. I have not seen another like it. The date does not appear to read 1830 for some odd reason. It looks more like 1820 or 1880 to me.
Incuse stamp on the reverse is an unreadable and crude rectangular area that I do think probably says "STERLING" but may be the result of a deteriorated die.



The date is supposed to read 1830 which is the year that Mary, The Blessed Mother, appeared to St. Catherine Labouré at the Rue de Bac Chapel in Paris France.

When Mary spoke to St. Catherine, she said “Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck.

Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be, in a special manner, under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.”

The design of the medal was seen during the apparition by St. Catherine and the prayer is the wording shown on the front.
The symbolism is correct and easily found searching for 1830 Miraculous Medal.

With approval of the Catholic Church, the first medals were made in 1832 and distributed in Paris. Only ten of the original medals are known to exist, and one of them is housed at the Miraculous Medal Shrine.

Many medals have been made. By autumn of 1834 there were already 500,000 medals in existence. In 1835 there were more than one million worldwide, and in 1839 more than 10,000,000 medals had been distributed. At the time of the death of Sister Catherine, in 1876, there were more than a billion medals.



I do believe this is at least 50 years old and the chain is quite interesting as well. Certainly more than an ordinary variety.
The appearance, weight and feel of this medal and the chain has me convinced it is .925 silver.

An informative link:

https://www.chapellenotredamedelame...sh/apparitions-et-la-medaille-miraculeuse-gb/

 

I picked these two up this morning I must admit both are the nicest I've ever seen raw!

 

Paddy, they are beauts!

1967 John Paul Jones
National Commemorative Society
(NCS) Franklin Mint
39mm 26.6 gr .925 Silver





The lesser known story of
John Paul Jones



Early Revolutionary War Command

John Paul Jones sailed from the Delaware River in December 1775 aboard Alfred on the Continental Navy's maiden cruise. It was aboard this vessel that Jones took the honor of hoisting the first U.S. ensign - The Grand Union Flag, over a naval vessel.
The fleet had been expected to cruise along the coast but was ordered instead by Commodore Esek Hopkins to sail for The Bahamas, where Nassau was raided for military supplies. The fleet had an unsuccessful encounter with a British packet ship on their return voyage. Jones was then assigned command of the sloop USS Providence in 1776.
Congress had recently ordered the construction of thirteen frigates for the American Navy, one of which was to be commanded by Jones.
In exchange for this prestigious command, Jones accepted his commission aboard the smaller Providence. During this six-week voyage to Nova Scotia, Jones captured sixteen prizes and inflicted significant damage in the Raid on Canso.
Jones' next command came as a result of Commodore Hopkins's orders to liberate hundreds of American prisoners forced to labor in coal mines in Nova Scotia, and also to raid British shipping.
On November 1, 1776, Jones set sail in command of Alfred to carry out this mission. Winter conditions prevented freeing the prisoners, but the mission did result in the capture of Mellish, a vessel carrying a vital supply of winter clothing intended for General John Burgoyne's troops in Canada.



Later in 1782 John Paul Jones naval career he was appointed to command the 74-gun USS America, but his command fell through when Congress decided to give America to the French as replacement for the wrecked Le Magnifique.
As a result, he was given assignment in Europe in 1783 to collect prize money due his former hands.
At length, this too expired and Jones was left without prospects for active employment, leading him on April 23, 1787 to enter into the service of the Empress Catherine II of Russia.
As a rear admiral aboard the 24-gun flagship Vladimir, he took part in the naval campaign against the Turks, in concert with the Dnieper Flotilla commanded by Prince Charles of Nassau-Siegen and they successfully repulsed the Ottoman forces from the area, but the jealous intrigues of Nassau-Siegen turned the Russian commander Prince Grigory Potëmkin against Jones and he was recalled to St. Petersburg for the pretended purpose of being transferred to a command in the North Sea. Another factor may have been the resentment of several ex-British naval officers also in Russian employment, who regarded Jones as a renegade and refused to speak to him. Whatever motivated the Prince, once recalled he was compelled to remain in idleness, while rival officers plotted against him and even maliciously assailed his private character.
Jones was arrested and cleared eventually of some terrible accusations, but he admitted some wrongdoings with a 12 yr old girl that today would be unthinkable. Jones was an embittered man.
In 1789 Jones arrived in Warsaw, Poland, where he befriended Tadeusz Kosciuszko, another veteran of the American Revolutionary War. Kosciuszko advised him to leave the service of the autocratic Russia, and serve another power, suggesting Sweden. Despite Kosciuszko's backing, the Swedes, while somewhat interested, in the end decided not to recruit Jones.

John Paul Jones died of Kidney failure at the age of 45. He was buried in Paris at the Saint Louis Cemetery, which belonged to the French royal family. Four years later, France's revolutionary government sold the property and the cemetery was forgotten. The area was later used as a garden, a place to dispose of dead animals and where gamblers bet on animal fights. After years past his body was located and in 1905 and his body was brought to the United States aboard the USS Brooklyn (CA-3), escorted by three other cruisers. On approaching the American coastline, seven U.S. Navy battleships joined the procession escorting Jones's body back to America.
On April 24, 1906, Jones's coffin was installed in a sarcophagus in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

 

1972 John Paul Jones
Longines Symphonette
Sterling Medal





34gr .925 Silver 40mm
Captain John Paul Jones ~ USS Bonhomme Richard
Sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy"
(an epithet that he shares with John Barry and John Adams)